Process of manufacturing bottle-closures.



A. BOGDANFPY.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING BOTTLE CLOSURES.

APPLIGATIONIILBD MAR. 1, 1913v 2 SHBHTS-BHEET 1.

Patented Feb. 17, 1914.

WITNESLE'ES %2- fi lE M W A TTORNEV A. BOGDA NFFY.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING BOTTLE GLOSURES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1, 1913.

Patented Feb. 17, 1914.

Z .SHEETS-SHEET Z ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATEN T OFFICE.

ALEXANDER BOGDANFFY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE INTERNATIONAL CORK COMPANY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING BOTTLE-CLOSURES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1'7, 1914.

Original application filed May 29, 1912, Serial No. 700,453. Divided and this application filed March 1, 1913. Serial No. 751,498.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER Boo- DANNY, a subject of the King of Hungary, and resident of the city of New York, in

the county of Kings and State of New York, 5 have invented certa n new and useful Imwhereby a uniform product is obtained.

provements in Processes of Manufacturing Bottle-Closures, of which. the following is a specification, the same being a division of application, filed May 29, 1912, Serial No. 700,453.

The present invention relates to a process for the manufacture of bottle closures of the class known as crown cork sealing caps or closures.

Closures of this type usually comprise three parts, that is a metallic cap or crown, having a corrugated flange to be locked to the exterior of the bottle neck, a sealing disk or packing of cork or the like, and a thin disk of impervious binding material, usually fusible, interposed between the metallic cap and the sealing disk. The purpose of this interposed impervious disk is to unite the packing of cork or the like with the metallic cap, and at the same time to prevent the bottled liquids from taint by contact with the cap and the incident corrosion of the metal. In manufacturing these closures the interposed impervious disk is heated to properly fuse the same, and the assembled closures subjected to pressure while the binding medium is hardening, cooling devices being usually applied while the hardening takes place. In some cases, instead of the interposed impervious disk, a liquid or semi-liquid adhesive material is made use of, such adhesive material serving the two fold purpose of the impervious disk. The use of such adhesive material renders, however, the manufacture of the closures sim pler in that the usual heating and cooling devices are done away with.

In practice it has been found difficult to apply to the caps of the closures a predetermined and proper amount of adhesive mate rial inasmuch as such medium is applied to the inner face of the cap in a liquid or semiliquid state.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improvement in the art of making bottle closures, in which the parts of the closures are in no way subjected to heating action, which action obviousiy affects a great deal the cork or packing disk in that it impairs the sealing properties of the same.

A further object is to provide a process, by which the caps of the closure receive a predetermined quantity of adhesive material,

lVith these and other objects in view, which will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the process hereinafter fully described and pointed out in the appended claims. 7

One of the many possible apparatus for carrying out the process forming the subject of the present application for Letters Patent is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a front elevation of a machine embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof; Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. l is a perspective View of'the feeding means of the machine, in the form of a drum; Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section of a portion of the main frame of the machine which cooperates with the feeding drum; Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the means for actuating the feeding drum; Fig. 7 is a section taken through a portion of the means for depositing the sealing disks into the caps; Fig. 8 is a sect-ion taken through a portion of the main frame of the apparatus and of the feeding drum with a cap in position therein;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view of the means for applying the cementing medium or adhesive material to the metallic cap; Fig. 10 is a section taken through the reciprocating plunger shown in Fig. 9; and Fig. 11 is a top elevation of the plunger shown in Fig. 10.

In the drawings, the numeral 20 designates a base plate, by which are supported "legs or standards 21, carrying a horizontal plane with an aperture, said apertures being shown at 27 and 28. These apertures extend through the wall of the cylinder, communicate with said groove and are of a diameter which is slightly less than the outer diameter of the corrugated flange portion 25 of the metallic member of the closure. The groove terminates at 29 in the cylinder, said terminating point being the outlet thereof. In the cylinder is arranged a feeding drum 30, said drum being keyed to a shaft 81, which is rotatably supported in. bearings 32, 32,said bearings being carried by the frame member 22. The length of the feeding drum corresponds to that of the cylinder 23, and its diameter corresponds substantially to the inner diameter of said cylinder. The drum is provided with longitudinal peripheral grooves 33, which are located 90 apart and run parallel to the longitudinal axis of said drum. The width of each groove corresponds to the diameter of the head portion 34 of the metallic part of the closure, and the depth of each groove corresponds substantially to the height of said head portion. The flange portions of the caps project beyond the periphery of the drum and are arranged in the groove 24, as clearly shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings.

If a metallic cap is placed through the slot 26 into the groove of the cylinder and a groove of the feeding drum, it will be observed that, by rotating the feeding drum, the said cap will be moved along the groove 24 insaid cylin der. In moving along this groove, it will slide along the said groove in the feeding drum and be disengaged from the mechanism as soon as the said groove in the drum registers with the outlet29 of the groove 24. This outlet may be somewhat enlarged to permit of an easy disengagement of the caps from the mechanism.

The..driving shaft 35 of the apparatus is journaled in bearings 36, 36, which are mounted upon the base plate 20. A driving pulley 37 is keyed or otherwise attached to the shaft 35, and rotated by the intermediary of a belt from any suitable source of power. To one of the bearings 36 is fastened a bracket 36, supporting a receptacle 38, to

' which leads a chute 39 from the outlet 29 of the groove in the cylinder.

Rotary motion is imparted to the feeding drum 30 from the shaft- 35 by an eccentric 40, the rod 40 of which is pivoted at 41 to a plate member 42, which is slidably arranged in guides 43, 43, the latter forming part of one of the bearings This plate member is provided in its inner face with a semi-circular groove 44, adapted to be engaged in a manner hereinafter to be described by pins 45, 45, which are mounted upon theouter face of a disk 46, the latter being fixedly attached to the shaft 31 of the feeding drum 30. In one of the sides of the plate member 42 is formed a recess 47, in which is slidably arranged a latch 48, held by means of a spring 49 in its normal outer position, shown in full lines in Fig. 6 of the drawings. There are four pins 45 upon the disk 46, arranged 90 apart at a distance which corresponds to the width of the plate member 42. In the position shown in full lines in Fig. 6 of the drawings the reciprocable plate member is in its uppermost position, in which case there are two pins upon each side of said plate member. The disk 46 and thus the feeding drum will be thereby held firmly in position until the eccentric in its further rotation startsthe downward movement of the plate member. During the downward movement of the plate mem-- her, the pin, which is in the position denoted by the numeral I, is moved in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 6 in an areshaped path downward until it reaches the position II, causing thereby one-quarter of a revolution of the feeding drum 30. That pin which has been, before the movement which has been in position IV moves in an arc-shaped path along the groove 44 until it reaches the position I. During the upward movement of the plate member 42, the pins are not acted upon by the plate member, whereby the drum will be kept stationary. It is 'obvious that when, in the upward movement of the plate member, the inclined surface 50 of the latch 48 comes into contact with the pin at the position I, it will be forced into the recess 47 against the action of the spring 49, which will, as soon as the point of said latch is disengaged from the pin, cause the said latch to assume its position shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, whereby the plate member is again ready for operation.

It will be noted that, since the four pins abut against the sides of the member 42 during the upward movement, the drum 30 will be kept fixed during such upward movement of said plate member. While the drum is kept stationary, two of its grooves register with the apertures in the cylinder.

The metallic caps are fed to the cylinder 23 in their inverted positions, preferably automatically, through a chute 51, which delivers them to a platform 52 in a direction i oamii upper end of the reciprocable plate member 42. When this plate member moves downward, the said springs will force the feeding finger 53 outward, and thereby permit the sliding of a cap onto the platform 52 in alinement with the slot 26 and a groove 33 in the drum. As the plate member 42 moves upward, the said cap will be fed through the slot 26 in engagement with the groove 24 in the cylinder and the groove 33 in the drum, the inclined surface 56 acting against the feeding finger and forcing the same toward the'cylinder and drum. hen the cap is engaged by the cylinder and the drum and the latter is rotated in the manner above described the cap will be fed along the groove 24: a distance Corresponding to an angular travel of 90, stop at such point until another cap is fed into the groove 24, and be then moved along a distance corresponding to an angular travel of 90 of the drum, whereby it will come into registering position withthe aperture 27 in the bottom of the drum, and stop there in an upright position during the upward movement of the plate member 4:2. While the said plate memher is moving upward and the drum is kept stationary, an adhesivesubstance is applied to the inner face of the head of the cap from a trough 57, whichis attached to the under face of theirame member 22. The means for applying the adhesive substance to the cap comprises a plunger 58, which is reciprocably mounted in a guide 59 in the trough, and is attached to a bar 60, the latter bein pivoted at 61 to the rod 62 of an eccentric 63, which is keyed to the driving shaft The plunger 58 is shown in detail in Figs. 10 and 11 of the drawings, and comprises a hollow member having a plurality of perforations 6- in its wall, and pro vided with ahead 65. which is screwed or otherwise attached to the body thereof. In the said head is provided a large number of perforations 66. through which project pins 37. which are slidably arranged in the plunger. their lower ends being seated iii-recesses OS in the bottom portion of the plunger. To limit the outward movement of the pins 67, the latter have enlargements (39, against which bear springs T0, coiled around the pins and arranged in the said plungers, the other ends of said springs bearing against the bottom portion of the plunger. The pins are thus resiliently supported and adapted to contact with the inner faces of the caps, no matter how uneven or convex said faces be. A stuffing box 71 is mounted upon the bottom of the trough 57 at the point through which the bar extends through said bottom. The eccentrics 1:0 and 6-3 are keyed to the driving shaft in such a manner that the plunger 58 starts its downward movement before the plate member 42 starts in that di- 30 is kept stationary and a metallic member of the closure is held with its flange downward in registering position with the taper ture 27 in the bottom of the cylinder 23. In moving upward, the pins 67, which have been immersed in the adhesive material contained in the trough 57, will apply the ad hesive material, adhering to them, to the inner face of the head of the cap 25. By applying the adhesive material to the caps in their upright positions, all of the same will receive the same quantity. The cap is then transported step by step until it registers in an inverted position with the aperture 28 in the top of the cylinder hen in this position, a sealing disk or packing of cork or the like is placed into said cap. For

-this purpose an assembling plunger 72 arranged above the opening 28, said plunger being slidably mounted in vertical guides 73, and attached to the horizontal portion 74 of an actuating rod 75, which is adapted to reciprocate in a guide 75, the latter being attached to a stationary part of the machine.

The actuating rod 75 is pivoted at 76 to the rod 77 of an eccentric 78, which is keyed, or otherwise attached, to the driving shaft 35, and more particularly in such a manner that the assembling plunger 72 will move downward when the plate member d2 moves upward. or in other words while the drum 30 in the cylinder 23 is at rest. The sealing disks are placed into a vertical tube T9.-

which is attached to one of the guides 73 by means of a bracket 80, and is provided with a longitudinal slot 81. through which a finger piece 83 of a weight 84 protrudes, said weight being placed on top of said sealing disks and serves to feed same into a guideway 85 of a reciprocable conveyor 86. The guideway 85 is provided in its bottom with an opening 8?, which registers with the aperture 28 in the cylinder 23. The outer end of the reciprocable conveyer 86 contacts with an inclined surface 88 of a block 89, which is carried by the rod 75-. A spring 90 serves to force the said conveyer continuously into contact with the inclined surface 88 of said block. The conveyer engages the lowermost of the sealing disks in the tube 79 and transfers the same to the opening 87 during the upward movement of the rod 75, or in other words while the assembling plunger is being lifted. The latter will in its downward movement force the sealing disk through the opening 87 and the aperture 28 into the metal cap. The opening 87 in the bottom of the guideway 85 tapers toward the cylinder 23, its upper end being larger than the diameter of a sealing disk. and the diameter at its lower end being somewhat smaller than that of a sealing disk. For this reason the sealing disk will be compressed to some extent when it passes rection. and moves upward while the drum i through the opening 87 and will, when forced into the cap, expand to be held thus firmly in the cap. The assembling plunger, besides that it forces the sealing disk into the cap, exerts at the same time pressure upon the component parts of the closure and firmly unites the said parts, for the reason that the adhesive material is still in its semisolid condition when the parts of the closure arrive at the aperture 28. During the next quarter of a revolution of the drum 30, the assembled closure is transferred to the outlet 29, and discharged there into the chute 39 on which it slides into the receptacle 38.

Recapitulating now the operation of the machine, we find that the feeding drum 30 moves intermittently, making at each movement a quarter of a revolution and stopping then while the plate member l2 moves upward. During the movement of the feed ing drum, a packing or sealing disk of cork or the like is fed in proper relation to the aperture 28 in the top of the cylinder. Dur: ing the rest of the feeding drum, the eccentric rods 62 and 77 move in opposite direc tions and thereby actuate the plunger 58 and the assembling plunger 72, the plunger 58 serving to apply adhesive material to the inner face of the head of the metallic cap and the assembling plunger 72 to force the sealing disk into the cap and to unite the parts of the closure.

'From the foregoing it appears that the machine now described carries out a process which, broadly speaking, consists in, first, applying adhesive material to the inner face of the head of the cap, second, depositing a sealing disk into the cap, and, third, subjecting the assembled closure to pressure to unite the elements thereof.

It is to be observed that the cap is held in an upright'position when the adhesive material is applied to its inner face for the reason fully stated hereinabove.

What I claim is 1. In a process for the manufacture of bottle closures of the cap variety which consists, first, in applying adhesive material to the inner face of the head of a metallic cap positioned with its open end downward, second, inverting the cap and depositing a sealing disk into the same, and, third, sul e jecting the assembled closure to pressure to unite the elements thereof.

2. In a process for the manufacture of bottle closures of the cap variety which consists, first, in applying adhesive material to the inner face of the head of a cap positioned with its open end downward, second, inverting the cap and forcing a sealing disk into the same, and, third, subjecting the assembled closure to pressure to unite the elements thereof.

3. In a process for the manufacture of bottle closures of the cap variety which consists, first, in applying adhesive material to the inner face of the head of a cap post tioned with its open end downward, second, reducing by pressure the diameter of sealing disk, third, inverting the cap and forcing the sealing disk in its reduced state into the same and allowing the disk to expand therein, and, fourth, subjecting the assembled closure to pressure to unite the elements thereof.

Signed at New York, in the c i unty of Kings and State of New. York, this QTlh day of January, A. D. 1913.

ALEXANDER BOGDAFFFY.

Witnesses SIGMUND Hrrzoo, ADELINE A. RICHTER. 

